Open Arms
by chaingangprincess1978
Summary: Song fic based on Journey's "Open Arms" Pairing: John/Maria.


Open Arms

John Cena/Maria

Songfic based on _Open Arms_ by Journey

"**Lying beside you, here in the dark,**

**Feeling your heart beat with mine."**

John sighed as he lay there in the dark with Maria in his arms. He could feel the soft beat of her heart against him. He loved having her here. He loved the way her body fit with his. He loved to look down and see her sleeping with her head on his chest. John loved the noises she made when they were making love. He loved her smile, her perfume, everything about her made him tingle with desire.

"**Softly you whisper, You're so sincere.**

**How could our love be so blind."**

Maria stirred in her sleep. And John looked down to see her smile softly in her sleep; the pale moonlight gently caressing her cheek. She sighed gently and then a small whisper of "I Love You!" escaped her. She was dreaming; probably of him! John knew at that moment that he would do whatever it took to keep her in his life forever.

"**We sailed on together."**

John and Maria's love began to blossom over the next few months. They quickly made it clear to everyone that they were an item, and a very exclusive one at that. Randy might've had the reputation of being a playboy. John however, was a one woman man; which he was happy to discover suited him just fine.

Maria was very happy to be with John too. She spent every spare minute she had with him. She faithfully watched his matches, cheering him on from backstage. John was her man. He completed her. She loved the feeling of being wrapped in his arms. She loved the smell of his cologne; the way his liquid blue eyes lit up when he laughed. Maria was madly in love with John, and she knew she would fight for him, no matter what.

"**We drifted apart."**

With every sweet thing in life comes a little bit of sour. John and Maria quickly learned that being a celebrity couple definitely has its share of disadvantages. They were mobbed by reporters and paparazzi everywhere they went. Maria started getting hate fan mail from some of John's female admirers…and even a couple of nasty letters from a couple of his gay fans too. Until finally something happened that Made Maria so upset she confronted John backstage one night during the show.

"What in the hell do you call this?" She demanded, shoving _The Enquirer_ under his nose.

"CENA AND ORTON SNAPPED WHORING AT NEW YORK NIGHTCLUB!" the headline proclaimed.

"Maria, baby….you're overreacting. I know exactly when this was taken. It was that night that we were in New York, and you stayed back at the hotel because you had cramps. I told Randy that I wasn't interested in any other girls but you…but he dragged me out, and some punk got in my face with a camera as I was nicely telling some ladies that I didn't want to dance….thats all." John said.

"Oh sure John…like I'm supposed to believe that….did Randy tell you to feed me that crock of shit?"

John looked down at the floor. Hurt by her comments. He couldn't bear the pain of fighting with her. Without another word, John turned and walked away; stopping to pick up his bags as he went.

He could hear her begging him not to leave her. She started apologizing frantically. Saying maybe she was wrong after all. That was rich! She had just stood here and accused him of lying to her. Screw that! He didn't need that kind of drama in his life.

John's heart broke as he walked away. He could hear Maria sobbing as he closed the door on their love.

"**And here you are, by my side."**

John awoke the next morning in desperate need of a good workout. He needed to get to the gym and hit the treadmill and weights. It was the only way he could think of to take his mind off of Maria and breaking up with her.

John got to the gym, and changed into his workout clothes. Man! This was going to feel good. At least he hoped anyway. He got on the treadmill to do his half hour of cardio. Always good to have a nice warm up he thought.

Just then he caught sight of her. Maria! She had stepped out of the locker room and was heading toward the treadmills. John found himself looking her up and down…She looked so sexy in her black workout pants and little pink sports bra.

Her dark red hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and John found himself missing her even more as he remembered what it felt like to kiss the soft skin on the back of her neck.

"Hello John." She said as she hopped up on the treadmill right next to his. She popped her iPod earphones into her ears then, and started her workout.

John kept walking, and tried not to look over at her as he did. She smelled good….She always rubbed some kind of lotion on her skin in the morning. (There had been a couple of times she had even allowed John to help.) She had all kinds of smells. This morning she smelled faintly of coconut.

John found it was getting more and more difficult to concentrate. He looked at his timer….he still had about 15 minutes left. Ah well, he supposed he'd just have to endure it. He closed his eyes for a second and lost himself in a brief memory of her. Their first kiss…it had been so sweet. They way she had melted into his embrace. Her moans as their lips connected for the first time. The way she had shivered when he had whispered her name.

What the hell was wrong with him? John realized as he snapped out of it. She was the one who had accused him of cheating. She was the one who had caused him all this pain…So why on earth did he still want her so badly? Why did the mere sight of her make him feel like a young schoolboy again?

John's reverie was interrupted by the beeping of the treadmill….his warm up was over.

"Good." He thought. He stepped off of the treadmill and made his way over to the weight training equipment.

"Hey Cena!" Hunter said to him as he went to start with some squats.

"I heard about you and Maria. Tough break man, I'm sorry." Hunter said.

John grumbled something like "Yeah, thanks."

He carried on with his workout….pushing himself a little too hard at times. It was what he felt he needed to do to keep the memories from flooding back.

Finally John wrapped up his workout. He had pushed himself to the limits today. He was tired now. He decided to grab a shower and head back to his room for some rest. Then he would join everyone at the venue for tonight's house show.

"**Living without you; living alone.**

**This empty house seems so cold."**

John arrived back at his hotel room. He had decided to wait until he got back here to shower. He let himself in and was again reminded of the huge void that was now in his life. Usually when he walked in he could see Maria's clothes hanging in the closet. Her perfume bottles and other cosmetics were usually on the night table.

There had even been a couple of times where he had walked in to find a sexy nightgown laid out on the bed. Now it was just an empty room with his suitcases and his clothes strewn over the floor. Maria would have nagged him, he thought, and then quickly changed his train of thought, because it was just too painful.

The room actually felt cold and empty without her things. John went into the bathroom and started the shower. He took his clothes off and got in. The hot water ran over him, and he went through the motions of washing up.

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around his waist.

"**Wanting to hold you, wanting you near,**

**How much I've wanted you home."**

John stepped out of the bathroom, and went over to the bed. He took off the towel, and turned down the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed feeling very lonely right now. There had been a few times where she had met him back at the hotel after the gym. John shivered slightly at the memories. John tried not to remember too much about it; but it was no use.

His mind wandered with flashes of the two of them. He could see Maria's face, twisting with absolute pleasure. He could hear her moaning….whispering his name. He could almost feel her hands on him.

John lay back against the pillows. He needed her so badly. He wanted her back, and he knew that there was only one option at this point, he had to make things right between them again.

John shook his head; forcing himself to snap out of it.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

John sighed and got up…pulling on a pair of sweats before going to answer the door.

**And now that you've come back; Turned night into day**

**I need you to stay.**

John opened the door, and to his surprise there stood Maria. Her eyes were red and a little puffy, and John knew instantly that she'd been crying.

Then he noticed what she had with her. It was a HUGE bouquet of red helium balloons. There must have been at least 50 or so. He looked closer, and he saw that they were imprinted with the words I Love You.

"Come in." he said, motioning for her to step inside.

She followed him into the room, pulling the balloons behind her.

"John…I've been thinking. And I really can't live without you and your love. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you about that picture baby."

"It's okay sweetie. I'm just so happy to see you here." He said as he pulled her into his arms, embracing her. He smiled as her arms went around him and he could hear the balloons rustling together as they moved.

He knew then that this was where he needed to keep her.

John pulled back to look at her again. He stepped back from her and turned to go over to his suitcase. He had bought it a few weeks ago when things had really started to get serious between him and Maria. He had just been waiting for the right time to give it to her.

John turned and walked back to Maria then. He got down on one knee. His hands were trembling slightly, as he held out a little red velvet heart box.

He didn't take his eyes off her as he started to softly sing.

"So now I come to you, with open arms.

Nothing to hide. Believe what I say.

Here I am, with open arms.

Hoping you'll see, what your love means to me…" he trailed off, smiling at her.

Maria stood there looking at him for a moment, and then she smiled and John saw tears of joy well up in her eyes.

"Maria my love, will you marry me?" John asked her.

"Y-yes…." She stammered.

Maria and John sealed the moment with a sweet passionate kiss. And they both knew that from this moment on, they would be happy together, forever.


End file.
